Andrew Hammond will return to the net for the first time since getting shellacked in a 5-1 loss to the Rangers last week; Craig Anderson, who started consecutive losses to Toronto and Florida over the weekend, will revert to backup status… for now.

It remains to be seen what head coach Dave Cameron will do for the remaining seven games of the regular season. Ottawa’s in a dogfight with Boston for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and, at least for now, he’s going with Hammond, who has just one regulation loss in 17 appearances this season.

For Detroit, Petr Mrazek will start tonight — a decision that’s equally as compelling as the one in Ottawa. For more on that, click here.

The Rangers, who’ve scored just twice on their last 33 power play opportunities, head into tonight’s game in Winnipeg looking to spark a man advantage unit that sits 21st overall in the NHL and hasn’t scored on the road since Mar. 4.

On paper, the Rangers should be dynamic. Dan Boyle, though clearly not the player he once was, has made a career out of quarterbacking power play units and Keith Yandle, who arrived from Arizona at the trade deadline, leads all NHL defensemen in PP assists.

Rick Nash once led the league in power play markers (with 19, during the 2003-04 campaign) and Chris Kreider has emerged as a good net-front presence with the man advantage, leading the Rangers with seven PPG.

So… what gives?

The Rangers can be accused of not shooting the puck enough. They have the 11th-fewest shots on goal with the man advantage this season (323) and, in the aforementioned game against Washington, could only manage four shots on goal in over seven minutes of power play time.

There’s also this explanation, from Derek Stepan.

“I think we need to simplify when we get out there,” he said. “We need to make sure we make the right plays and shoot the puck when we get a chance.”

Whatever the case, the Rangers will need to figure this and fast. An anemic man advantage can prove costly during the Stanley Cup playoffs, like last year — in the final, the Rangers went just 2-for-22 against the Kings.

Alex Ovechkin and Jason Chimera each scored twice as the Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers 5-2.

For the time being the Capitals trail the New York Islanders by just one point for the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. Washington also has a five-point lead on the first wild card seed in the Eastern Conference.

Marcus Johansson added an empty netter while Braden Holtby made 23 saves for the win.

One of Holtby’s bigger saves on the afternoon came midway through the first when he robbed Kevin Hayes.

With the pair of goals, Ovechkin now has a league-leading 49 on the season. He is one goal shy of his sixth career 50-goal season.

Ovi on the Rangers: "When we put puck deep we finish our checks. I think they were kind of not ready and don't want to take a hit."

Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard’s recent slump has been bad enough spark speculation about him potentially losing the starting job to 23-year-old netminder Mrazek. That debate only intensified after Mrazek posted a 23-save shutout against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Under these circumstances, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has decided to start Mrazek against the New York Islanders despite the lack of rest. The only other time Detroit attempted to start Mrazek on back-to-back days this season, he allowed three goals on seven shots to the Buffalo Sabres before being pulled just 13:37 minutes into the second game.

There’s no word yet on who the Islanders will counter with.

Elsewhere…

Capitals at Rangers: Braden Holtby vs. Cam Talbot

Panthers at Senators: Craig Anderson will start for Ottawa; Roberto Luongo is the probable goaltender for Florida.

Bruins at Hurricanes: Tuukka Rask is expected to be fine for today’s game after dealing with dehydration issues on Saturday, so there’s a fair chance he’ll be between the pipes for Boston. Carolina will likely go with Anton Khudobin after using Cam Ward on Saturday, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

Flames at Predators: Jonas Hiller is confirmed for Calgary while there’s a fair chance Nashville will counter with Pekka Rinne.

Ducks at Devils: It’s not know who Anaheim will start, but Cory Schneider will be in goal for New Jersey.